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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Recipe - Vegan Cracked Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

*This post contains an affiliate link if you want to purchase my silicone baking mat down at the bottom. I will get a commission if you click and buy but you still have to make the cookies yourself...

When I wanted to make cookies the other day to test out my new silicone baking mat, I decided to go with something potentially sticky and messy with peanut butter. I had to put the mat to the true test, right? Well after poking around through a bunch of recipes, trying to vegan-ize my old chocolate cookie with peanut butter in the middle recipe, and consulting my mom for her vegan recipe, I settled on what I thought would work.

Instead of the perfect chocolate cookie with a peanut butter center that I was hoping for, I got a messy looking cracked chocolate cookie that exposed all the peanut butter inside. However, it was a beautiful mess. I quickly fell in love with the look of the cookie and they were consumed and enjoyed by all that set eyes on them. Maybe even eaten a little too quickly, especially since they are time consuming to create.

Will I make these again? They are too pretty not to. Will I continue to try to make a good version where the peanut butter is safely hidden inside? Absolutely. Did my silicone baking mat work? Oh yeah. Do you want to make these cookies? Go right ahead...

What You Do:
Preheat oven to 350
Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, salt in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, food processor, or mixer, beat together butter, 1/2 c. granulated sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 c. peanut butter until well combined. Add milk and vanilla and mix. Slowly mix in the flour mixture. Roll dough in your hands in about 1 inch balls and set aside.

For the filling:
Combine confectioners' sugar and 3/4 c. peanut butter in a mixing bowl or food processor until smooth. Form into 1/2 inch balls.

Gently flatten the chocolate balls with your fingers.
Place peanut butter ball in center of chocolate dough and attempt to fold chocolate dough around the peanut butter filling as best you can. Don't worry if it is messy. That is the beauty of the cracked part of these cookies.
Roll back into ball.

Place cookie balls on baking sheet on baking mat or parchment and flatten with the bottom of a glass.
Dip bottom of glass in granulated sugar and stamp sugar onto top of cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 on silicone baking sheet. Let cook on cookie sheet. Transfer to plate once cool.

If you like my silicone baking mat, you can pick one up one up on Amazon: